I have a dilemma of conflicting advice here. I have a paid charge off with 5/3 bank for about $400. My credit reports show the debt as unpaid. It'll drop off my reports in 6.5 years. I have a relative who is an attorney, who I have asked for advice on this matter. He says the best thing I can do is to verify that the debt is paid with the CRA's. However, after studying this and another board for several weeks, it would appear that most of the posters would probably attempt to have the debt validated, try to bait the CRA's into an FCRA infraction, dispute the debt, or attempt a good will letter. So my question is this: Do I listen to my lawyer? Or do I attempt something else? Also, what are my chances of getting this thing removed this early in the game with a dispute or goodwill letter? Is it 50-50, or just a snowball's chance? Also, has anyone been able to get a derog from 5/3 dropped before? Thanks for the help.
Ok, maybe it will help if I clarify what I am asking. #1 Does anyone have any experience with 5/3 in any capacity? #2 Does the fact that this is only 6 months old hurt my chances with the nutcase approach? #3 I just noticed that my TU report does not list the chargeoff as paid. Does this help in anyway? Can this maybe open the door for Dancerat's letter, as technically the debt is being misreported? Thanks in advance for all the help.
I'm really sorry you're having trouble getting an answer. Honestly, there is nothing definitive in this area of credit repair but here's some food for thought: If you dispute it as paid - you have admitted its yours and that thing will be stuck like glue for 6.5 years. If you goodwill before you validate, you have admitted its yours... whether they say yes and its gone that's a good question. I don't think anybody has chimed in because we have never heard of 5/3 bank. I don't personally know of them, and never read anything about them here. With all that being said, I would dispute/validate, harass, etc., and see if that works. It is relatively new, and the new stuff bothers me, but really honestly truly its all a crapshoot. HTH
Thanks jlynn, I appreciate the honesty. 5/3 is a mostly midwestern bank, I guess if you don't live in Ohio, Indiana or the like you'd have never heard of it. In any event, I think my plan is to dispute and then hope they violate the FCRA.
Re: Re: Need chargeoff help from experts Really? That surprises me, they're headquarters are in Cincy, they have a AAA ballpark named after them in Dayton, and there's a prominent building with their logo on it in Columbus, at least there was one last time I was there.....
Re: Need Chargeoff Help Fifth Third Bank advertises in the "Credit Cards" section under "Prime Cards." People who post here should check out the advertising once in a while. That's what actually pays for this board.
Hi Kyle, There are numerous opinions on how to best handle these kinds of situations. Jodi's right, there's not really one favorite approach, until we get to me that is. Dancerat was the first guy to make clear to me the strategy you mention here. On a closed account, where the consumer can prove he paid it off, it's best to attempt to "bait" your adversary into a violation. By proclaiming that their reporting is wrong, correct it immediately, (but not telling them why it's wrong) they [usually] pull a CR to see how it's reported. Then file suit for No PP and agree to "consider" dropping the suit "after" it's removed, (which of course you will do). When done correctly, it works most of the time. Let me know what strategy you want to use and we'll go from there. hth .
BTW - No need to quote law or use certain words. In fact it's best not to. Consumer Law is construed to the favor of the consumer, the unsophisticated consumer at that. All we need to do is be clear about what we're saying. But keep the language simple and DUMB. lol .
I think I've settled on a simple OC "validation" letter. I can always go nutcase later, no need to pull out a lot of complexity, gonna keep it simple and not let the enemy see my cards too soon. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for all the advice, it is appreciated. BTW, already called the 1800 number to opt out, don't want anybody backdooring me with a garbage permissable purpose argument later.
